After another Kiffin loss to Saban, it’s clear Auburn football dodged a bullet

Reporting in coaching searches can be murky, at best. Some schools are more transparent than others, but no program exemplifies that murkiness more than Auburn football. However, if the consensus is to be believed, when Auburn fired Bryan Harsin and began courting potential replacements, Lane Kiffin’s name was at the top of the list.

It made sense. Auburn’s had success going to the Ole Miss well before, going undefeated in 2004 and beating Alabama six years in a row after luring Tommy Tuberville away from Oxford. Plus, who better to regain dominance against in-state rival Alabama and end the Nick Saban dynasty than a former Saban assistant who exemplifies everything that the legendary coach is not?

Alas, Kiffin spurned Auburn, and the Tigers went with their second choice: Liberty head coach, and yet another former Ole Miss head man, Hugh Freeze.

After Saturday, when Kiffin’s Rebels fell to Alabama 24-10 in Tuscaloosa, it’s beginning to look like Auburn AD John Cohen may have dodged a bullet.

Entering the game, Kiffin had never gotten one over on his former boss. He’s been back in the SEC for four seasons now, and he’s 0-4 in that time against the Tide. The record falls to 0-5 total when factoring in his 2009 defeat during his lone season at Tennessee when Terrence Cody blocked a game-winning field goal attempt to seal the victory against Kiffin’s Volunteers.

At Auburn, it’s okay to win nine games in a season. It’s even forgivable to win just seven or eight, but that’s all on one condition: You’ve got to beat Alabama. That’s how important the Iron Bowl is.

It goes both ways. Remember, Alabama coach Bill Curry was fired after winning 10 games and going to the Sugar Bowl in 1989. Why? In three seasons, he was 0-3 against Auburn.

Auburn football can’t afford to get schooled in the Iron Bowl

Kiffin’s track record suggests he’d be in the same boat. In four seasons at Ole Miss, and four defeats from Alabama, only one has been by a single-digit margin. One was by 21 points, and three of those games were by at least two touchdowns.

Kiffin doesn’t just lose to Alabama. He gets schooled.

At Auburn, he could beat a ranked Tulane all he wanted, but the Alabama stuff just wouldn’t fly.

Meanwhile, Cohen brought someone into Auburn who does know how to beat Saban. Freeze famously beat Alabama two years in a row, making it two out of the five times he’s faced the Crimson Tide, and that was when Saban was at the height of his powers.

Now, as Alabama looks wobbly, what better timing for Auburn to shift the balance of power in the state?

That sounds unfathomable after the reign of dominance we’ve witnessed for 15 years, but don’t forget what the Iron Bowl looked like before Saban got to Tuscaloosa. When the Tide were led by coaches like Curry, Mike Shula, Dennis Franchione, Mike DuBose, and Ray Perkins, the scales were far more level, and even tipped in the Tigers’ favor.

That status wouldn’t have returned under Kiffin’s watch, and after Saturday, that’s all the more clear.